Video Of Interest: Thurber’s “The Figgerin’ Of Aunt Wilma”
Via YouTube, this Omnibus presentation of James Thurber’s 1950 story, “The Figgerin’ Of Aunt Wilma” introduced by Alistair Cooke and narrated (!) by Thurber. According to the YouTube post it was aired April 26, 1953.
Movie buffs won’t take more than a half-second to recognize the actress playing Aunt Wilma.
The story was originally published in The New Yorker in its issue of June 10, 1950. It was later included in Thurber Country (Simon & Schuster, 1953).
James Thurber’s A-Z entry:
James Thurber Born, Columbus, Ohio, December 8, 1894. Died 1961, New York City. New Yorker work: 1927 -1961, with several pieces run posthumously. According to the New Yorker’s legendary editor, William Shawn, “In the early days, a small company of writers, artists, and editors — E.B. White, James Thurber, Peter Arno, and Katharine White among them — did more to make the magazine what it is than can be measured.”
Key cartoon collection: The Seal in the Bedroom and Other Predicaments (Harper & Bros., 1932). Key anthology (writings & drawings): The Thurber Carnival (Harper & Row, 1945). There have been a number of Thurber biographies. Burton Bernstein’s Thurber (Dodd, Mead, 1975) and Harrison Kinney’s James Thurber: His Life and Times (Henry Holt & Co., 1995) are essential. Website